Worksop partygoer was “a mouthful” over the limit

Court Reporter

A Worksop man was “a mouthful” over the limit when he drove the two-minute journey home from a party which had turned sour, a court heard.

Gary Peacock was arrested at his Furnival Street home on his return from the Kingston Road gathering, on December 3, after a partygoer tipped off police.

A test at Mansfield Police Station revealed he had 40 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, when the legal limit is 35 microgrammes.

Peacock, 28, admitted driving with excess alcohol when he appeared at Mansfield Magistrates Court, on Thursday.

Phil Jones, mitigating, said Peacock, a self-employed roofer with no previous convictions, was unlikely to lose his job, but the inevitable ban would impact on his youngest child, who is poorly and needs regular hospital visits.

“He wasn’t expecting to drive. His wife became involved in an altercation at the party. He needed to get her away,” said Mr Jones.

“He is probably a mouthful over the limit and he took the view he would be all right to drive the two-minute journey to his home.”

En route to the police station, he was chatting with police and told them he had a drink.

“He would not ordinarily have put himself in this situation,” added Mr Jones. “He worried that his car would be damaged and so he drove it around the corner.”

The car, a mobility vehicle, belongs to his mother-in-law, who does not drive, and there would be an impact on her as well, Mr Jones said.

Peacock was banned for 12 months, but was offered a drink drive rehab course which will reduce the disqualification by 91 days if he completes it before August this year.

He was also fined £155, and ordered to pay £85 costs and a £30 government surcharge.